Pothukuchi was selected for the individual community leadership award, while the Student Veteran Organization and Raising Our Community’s Knowledge tied as the organizational community leadership awardees.

The awards, named after late civil rights leader and Wayne State administrator Arthur L. Johnson, honor individuals and organizations — nominated by the public — whose contributions positively affect the community. Winners will be formally recognized during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013.

About the Dr. Arthur L. Johnson Community Leadership Award Recipients:

Kami Pothukuchi, Ph.D., Wayne State UniversityPothukuchi is an associate professor of urban planning at Wayne State University. She is the founding director of SEED Wayne, a campus-community collaborative dedicated to building sustainable food systems at WSU and in Detroit neighborhoods. SEED Wayne’s activities include three campus gardens, an annual 21-week farmers market, nutrition outreach, a healthy corner store initiative, and many classroom and field-based educational activities. Pothukuchi’s research examines how community food planning can advance public health, economic development, social justice and ecological sustainability. Her professional contributions have helped create the sub-field of food planning within community and regional planning.

WSU Student Veterans OrganizationThe Student Veterans Organization (SVO) is dedicated to supporting and promoting the personal growth and academic success of all student veterans, their families and alumni. The SVO strives to provide a safe environment of camaraderie and cooperation across the campus to promote the general interests and create awareness of the challenges facing all veterans nationwide. The organization honors those who have sacrificed for the country by providing them with resources, training and assistance.

Raising Our Community’s KnowledgeRaising Our Community's Knowledge (ROCK) was founded in 2010 by students at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in response to the general lack of appreciation and understanding of disease processes in Detroit patients. ROCK first started as a group consisting of John David Purakal, Joe Tsao and Jakub Sikora. Since then, it has expanded to a much larger group of medical students and nutrition graduate students with the same common mission: to spread vital medical knowledge to the people of Detroit. ROCK aims to raise health awareness by educating at-risk groups in Detroit about prevalent diseases.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.

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